it was obtained in 1801, by a company consisting of two hundred and four persons, (amongst whom were the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Gwydir, Sir Francis Baring, Sir C. W. Blunt, Sir John Bridger, Admiral Pigot, Sir Thomas Turton, and Sir Benjamin Harnmett and Company,) who were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Croydon Canal." It is entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from, or from near, the town of Croydon, in the county of Surrey, into the Grand Surrey Canal, in the parish of St. Paul, Deptford, in the county of Surrey; and for supplying the towns of Croydon, Streatham, and Dulwich, and the district called Norwood, in the parish of Croydon, in the said county of Surrey, and the town of Sydenham, in the county of Kent, with Water from the said Canal. Many clauses are introduced in the act for the protection of the mill owners on the Rivers Wandle and Ravensbourne, or any streams running into them, and as the company are prohibited from taking water from any of these, they are, with this view, required to maintain the surface of the summit pool of the canal 2 feet above the highest part of Croydon Common. To carry this canal into execution, the company were empowered to raise among themselves the sum of £50,000, in five hundred shares of £100 each, and, if necessary, a further sum of £30,000, or by mortgage of the undertaking.
This canal is 5 feet deep, and the locks are 60 feet long and 9 feet wide, and it is supplied with water by small reservoirs, (one of which is situate on the edge of Penge Common,) and by drains cut in the adjoining lands, though the act gives authority to raise water for this purpose from the Grand Surrey, which is on a level with high water in the Thames; but at that time it seems to have been the intention to use inclined planes instead of locks; and the steam engines to be used in raising the water, to replace the loss by leakage and evaporation, were also intended to draw the boats up the inclined planes.
TONNAGE RATES.
| Timber, Stone, Coal, Bricks, Tiles, and all other Goods and Commodities, except as herein-after mentioned | 3d per Ton, per Mile. |
| Dung, Chalk, Marl, Clay, Lime, Compost, and other Manure | 1½d ditto. ditto. |
Fractions to be taken as for a Quarter of a Ton, and as for a Quarter of a Mile.
